Apparatus for use in determining preservative content of wood



1965 J. c. LOFTIN APPARATUS FOR USE IN DETERMINING PRESERVATIVE CONTENT OF woon Original Filed March 21, 1956 ,1? IO M FIG] INVENTOR.

JAMES C. LOFTIN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,170,647 APPARATUS FOR USE IN'DETERMINKNG PRESERVATIVE CONTENT OF WOOD James C. Loftin, Spartanburg, S.C., assignor to Monie S. Hudson, Spartanburg, S.C. Original application Mar. 21, 1956, Ser. No. 572,901, now Patent No. 2,992,902, dated July 18, 1961. Divided and this application May 1, 1961, Ser. No. 106,91

, 2 Claims. (Cl. 241280) This invention relates to an apparatus for holdingand grinding a material to be comminuted in alignment with the grinding head of a comminuter and receiving the'comminuted particles and more particularly relatesto an adaptor for holding a wood boring of predetermined size and guiding it into the path of a comminuter whereby the boring is ground into particles and all of the particles are retained by the adaptor for deposit into a receptacle. This invention is particularly useful with the method for determining the preservative content of preservative-impregnated-wood, which method is disclosed and claimed in copending application Serial No. 572,901 filed March 21, 1956, now Patent No. 2,992,902. This is a division of the aforesaid application. 7

Telephone companies, power companies, and others who utilize a vast number of poles as part of their extensive overall communication and electrical transportation system, conduct periodic inspections of their operating property, including such poles, for signs of improper functioning and approaching failure. With respect to poles, field engineers are always alert for signs of decay,

insect damage or excessive loss of preservative which usually precedes such damage. Signs of decay may usually be noted by an overall external survey of the pole. Evidence of internal decay may be noted by tapping along the length of the pole with a hammer or a probing pole at the ground line with a sharp pointed instrument so as to spot soft or spongy areas which are the result of fungus and bacterial attacks. By boring into a portion of the pole and examining the borings for signs of softness and crumblingone can usually determine whether such a pole will provide several years additional service, whether it can be treated in some manner to preserve its usefulnes, or whether it should be promptly replaced.

The primary critical problem which confronts the field engineer is that of determining whether a particular pole, or plurality of poles, contains enough preservative, such as creosote, to assure continued satisfactory service of the pole for an additional number of years. This problem is particularly acute in those areas where roads are being widened and power and telephone companies must relocate their poles to new positions. Upon removing a pole from one spot where it has stood for a known number of years and, before positioning it in its new location, the field engineer inspects it for signs of decay and insect damage. However, as to whether each pole contains sufficient amount of creosote, he must follow a rule of thumb procedure and usually attempt to estimate whether such a pole contains very little creosote, sufiicient creosote so as to warrant a further creosote impregnation treatment of the pole, or whether the pole contains suflicient preservative to assure additional years of satisfactory service without further treatment.

When a large number of poles are involved, the decision as to whether these poles are to be used and which to be replaced must be made as quickly and as accurately as possible. Since presently known tests of determining the creosote content of the pole require long and tedious laboratory experiments, the field engineer must relay on his rule of thumb test and hope that he doesnt replace too many poles which could have given adequate service for a number of years or fails to replace one which will fail in another year or two.

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The rule of thumb test which has been used in estimating the amount of creosote remaining in a pole which has been in service for a number of years has been merely to remove a boring from the pole and checking its color. If the boring is black and has a pronounced odor of creosote,

the pole is considered to contain ample creosote to assure serving for an additional number of years. If the boring is brown and has a more or less distinctive odor of creosote, the pole may be susceptible to fungus attacks in a short period of time. If the boring is very light colored and has no odor, or a musty odor, the pole is usually discarded since it does not contain a sufiicient quantity of preservative. It is readily apparent this rule of thumb test is inadequate since the color of thelborings will vary depending on the moisture content of the poles. For example, a light colored boring, when wet assumes a darker color. Further, since the ability to detecto'dor varies with individuals, what may appear to one person as a strong creosote odor may be a weak odor to another. Even one persons ability to detect odors may vary from day to day and if he has a cold, a rule of thumb test he comes extremely unreliable.

In the aforesaid patent application, Serial No. 572,901, there is disclosed the process of removing a boring from a preservative-impregnated pole, grinding the boring into minute particles, placing the particles in a solvent for the preservative and measuring the color intensity of the solvent.

An object of this invention is to provide a special adaptor assembly which is attached to a grinding apparatus and which guides the boring to the grinding head and receives the comminuted particles for transfer into a receptacle, usually one containing a solvent for the preservative.

In attaining the object of the invention, one feature resides in having the adaptor in the form of an elongate, hollow member with a hollow, tubular arm projecting through a wall of said member for supporting the boring therein and with a slidable member slidable within said arm for moving the boring inwardly into the hollow member.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be more apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the drawing wherein;

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the adaptor of this invention and;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1.

When the preservative content of wood, such as poles used for power lines, telephone lines and the like, is to be determined, a boring is first taken from the pole by means of an increment borer. To insure accuracy of the test, the boring is preferably taken from the pole along the cross sectional diametrical line of the pole. A predetermined length of the boring measured from its outermost end, is ground into minute particles and all of the particles are placed in a solvent for the preservative. This solvent becomes a distinct color which can be measured for intensity and the preservative content of the pole may be easily ascertained from this known intensity.

While different preservatives may be used to impregnate and treat poles so as to prevent fungus and bacterial attacks and assure a long future service life, the most commonly used impregnant is creosote. However, it is to be understood that this is not in any way to be considered a limitation of the invention to this particular preservative, or the solvents therefor, since the invention may also be practiced with other preservatives and solvents for such preservatives.

Examples of solvents that may be used with creosotetreated poles include alcohols such as methanol, ethanol andisbpropanol; esters'such as ethyl acetate and amyl acetate; glycols' such as ethylene glycol and propylene glycol ethe'rs such as dioxane, methyl cellosolve and removed from the location Where it has stood for a number of years is fit for further service in another location, or whether a pole whose serviceability appears doubtful, contains a sufficient quantity of creosote impregnant to assure several additional years of satisfactory use, the field engineer first takes a boring from the pole with an increment borer of predetermined cross sectional diameten. Since the fungus and bacteria are prevalent in the first 18 inches of the soil, that portion of the pole whichis within this area is a critical area for testing the proper creosote content. Thus, the boring should-be taken at the ground line of the pole after the surface of the pole is carefully scraped to remove any adhering creosote which has bled out of the pole.

The boring is thencut to apredetermined length from its outer surface and completely ground into minute For: grinding the boring, it is preferable to.-

vl4 which frictionally engages the lower portion of the glycol; ketones such asdiacetone alcohol; ethers andv The receptacle 2 1 containing-the solvent 22 is then stoppered andshakenrand as the preservative is dissolved by'the-solvent, the solvent turns a particular shade of brown. ,The intensity of the color of the solvent is measured by anyriumber of meansland the amount of preservative present therein is, quickly. determined. The

wholeprocedure israpidly conducted in the field by the operator, andythe process is performed at the prevailing atmospheric temperature and pressure.

Having fully described the invention, what is, claimed is: a

1. In combination with a grinding apparatus including a motor, a motor housing, 'a rotatable shaft secured to said motor and protruding from said housing and a grinding head on said shaft, an adaptor comprising a removable elongate member disposed about said shaft and said grinding head and detachably' supported by said motor housing,a flexible seal in one end of said member in frictional engagement with said motor housing, a hollow arm projecting laterally through a wall of said member, the innermost endof said'arm being located.ad-

jacentsa id grinding head and meansslidably disposed 2. In combination with a grinding apparatusincluding g a motor, a motorhousing, a rotatable shaftsecured to motor housing 15 so as to secure the adaptor thereto.

Rotatable shaft 16 protrudes fromthe terminal end of.

tubular arm 11 may be 'moved toward engagement with the rapidly rotatinggrinding head 17 by applying force to the head 19 of the plunger '24 and sliding the plunger into the .tubular arm'lL r The bottom portion of the .adaptor istfrusto-conical in shape so. as to direct allthe ground 1 particles of the boring downwardly into a receptacle 21.

A'solvent 22. for'thepreservative, 'with which'the ground particles (not shown) are impregnated, is added to the receptacle up to a predetermined volume.

said motor and protruding from said housing anda grinding head on said shaft, an adaptor comp ising a removable elongate member disposed about said shaft and said grinding head and detachably supported by saidmotor housing, fastening means at one end of said memher in detachable engagement with said motor housing,

a hollow armv projecting-laterally through a wall of said member, the innermost end of said arm being located adjacent said grinding head and means slidably disposed within said hollow arm for sliding a wood boring into engagement with said'g'rinding head, the other end of said member being open to permit passage therethrough of ground'particles of said-wood boring.

References Cited in the file .of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A GRINDING APPARATUS INCLUDING A MOTOR, A MOTOR HOUSING, A ROTATABLE SHAFT SECURED TO SAID MOTOR AND PROTRUDING FROM SAID HOUSING AND A GRINDING HEAD ON SAID SHAFT, AN ADAPTOR COMPRISING A REMOVABLE ELONGATE MEMBER DISPOSED ABOUT SAID SHAFT AND SAID GRINDING HAD AND DETACHABLY SUPPORTED BY SAID MOTOR ELONGATED MEMBER DISPOSED ABOUT SAID SHAFT IN FRICTIONAL ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID MOTOR HOUSING, A HOLLOW ARM PROJECTING LATERALLY THROUGH A WALL OF SAID MEMBER, THE INNERMOST END OF SAID ARM BEING LOCATED ADJACENT SAID GRINDING HEAD AND MEANS SLIDABLY DISPOSED WITHIN SAID HOLLOW ARM FOR SLIDING A WOOD BORING INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID GRINDING HEAD, THE OTHER END OF SAID MEMBER BEING OPEN TO PERMIT PASSAGE THERETHROUGH OF GROUND PARTICLES OF SAID WOOD BORING. 